Fake Stint by Apple? iPhone 4 left behind in a bar

This is no joke. An Apple engineer forgot his iphone 4 in a German bar in Redwood city, a few miles from Apple Headquaters in California. According to a report by Gizmodo.

The engineer was Gary Powell who was celebrating his birthday and had left the device behind. The phone was disguised to look like an iPhone 3Gs.

Gizmodo got its hands on the device and was able to take it all apart to discover the iPhone 4 beneath.

By the next day the person who had taken the phone home hoping to return it to the owner found it to be dead. Apple had remotely flashed the phone using Mobileme service and erased its data.

Many new features were revealed. The cameras have been given a flash and have a larger lens while a front facing camera has been added. Noise cancellation features were added as a secondary mic port was found.

On tuesday Apple has reportedly sent a letter to tech site Gizmodo, requesting the return of the iPhone 4.

Apple’s legal department sent a letter to Gizmodo’s editor stating “It has come to our attention that Gizmodo is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple. This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple. Please let me know where to pick up the unit”, said the letter.

Gizmodo had paid upto $10,000 to get the device. The person who found the phone claims to have tried to contact Apple repeatedly but his calls were ignored and went ahead to make a profit from Gizmodo.

Now why would Apple ignore such calls, is this a marketting stinct by Apple. Create drama and curiousity among the masses?

Apple is known for its innovative ways to come up with its marketting for its products, I some how believe this is one of them.

Gray Powell is still with Apple. Why was he not fired? A company when giving out such prototypes to be field tested asks its employees receiving them to sign a responsibility acknoledgement form stating that they will take care of the “secret” product and ensure its safety.

Play such tricks and hype up the price just like they did for the ipad.